Amid competition, Karnataka fast-tracks business approvals

Facing stiff competition from neighbours and criticism over red tape, Karnataka has slashed timelines for multiple business approvals, including setting a 45-day limit for industrial land-use change in the Bengaluru metropolitan region.

Sixteen key approvals have been simplified with new, faster timelines, Industries Minister MB Patil said.
“This was badly needed. We kept talking about a single-window system, but it wasn’t happening. Time is money for investors,” Patil told DH.

Karnataka, which positions itself as an investor-friendly state, fared poorly against Telangana, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on some indices for ease of doing business, especially approvals.

For example, a change of land use for industrial purposes took up to 120 days. This has been cut to 45 days, according to a recent government order DH has seen. This will apply to lands under local planning authorities in the Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru North and Bengaluru South districts.

“We got a comparison done with other states to see what we could do. For now, we’ve slashed timelines for 16 out of 18 critical approvals,” Patil said, adding that further reduction in timelines will be explored going forward. “It’s not easy to bring other departments in line,” he pointed out.

Since 2022, Karnataka has approved 2,028 project proposals with a total investment of Rs 5.11 lakh crore and the promise of generating 7.16 lakh jobs. “Most of them are big projects that require 3-5 years for implementation,” the minister said. According to government data, 81 projects worth Rs 69,564 crore have landed, creating 1.06 lakh jobs.

IT/BT Minister Priyank Kharge stressed the delivery of the reforms. “The new timelines show the government’s clear intent. We need to ensure that every department and district is in line with this,” he said.

Timelines for two approvals — permission to cut and transport trees — have not been revised yet as they require legal changes. The forest department has been asked to move the necessary amendments, Patil said.

At present, obtaining permission to cut trees takes 90 days. It is 15 days in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while Tamil Nadu takes 18-37 days. To transport trees, it takes 42 days to obtain a permit against 20 days in Andhra Pradesh.